How SCCA Road Rallies Turn Backroads Into A Puzzle

Welcome And What’s Ahead

Don Armstrong 0:06

And a pleasant welcome to the In Real Time Car Talk Show. Glad you could join us this morning. It's time to play John Pulos with Sports Car Club of America. We're gonna find out about a road rally. Get it? Play. Okay. Just wanted to make sure that we were all on the same page when I said all this stuff. Uh plus uh Jeff has a story about car jacks. And and not the kind that not the kind that attached to your bumper. Now, can you imagine that these days? Have you even seen one of those lately? Uh, I actually saw somebody use one the other day and going, We did that? Oh my god. Yeah, uh plus uh Mr. Mars has uh uh driving destinations this week and other stuff. Jeff's got his usual fun things that he's going to join us with. So thank you for joining us and welcome. Along with Mike Out of This World Mars. We always need more Jeff Zeken on Don Armstrong. David Ainsley is uh listening, monitoring, and uh doing his engineering thing from bed this morning because he stayed up way too late partying last night. Not even be home yet. Well, there is that. I didn't think about that, but you're right, because he is the party animal. He is the man. Uh welcome to the show anyway. Thank you so much for joining us today, and it's good to have

Meet SCCA And The Texas Region

Don Armstrong 1:30

you with us. So we got a great guest, John Pulos. He is with SCCA, Sports Car Club of America. And um, John, good morning, and thank you very much for joining us today from the Dallas Fort Worth area.

SPEAKER_02 1:44

Good morning to all. Thanks for having me.

Don Armstrong 1:46

You bet. And so um rallies. Well, first of all, let's let's talk about the SCCA and kind of build a little base here. Sports Car Club of America. Who are you and what do you do?

SPEAKER_02 1:58

Well, we're a uh preeminent car club formed uh shortly after World War II, and we have 60 plus thousand members all over the country. Um there's over a hundred regions that's partitioned into regions. Uh I happen to be with the Texas region. We've taken the name Texas. It's really North Texas, Northeast Texas, and down to Waco.

Don Armstrong 2:27

Um, and you're one of those that has that funny accent from uh Wisconsin or something.

SPEAKER_02 2:32

Uh interesting. Well, actually, I'm originally from Chile. Uh okay. Huh. All right. A little further south. Yeah. A little further deep, deep south.

Don Armstrong 2:42

Deep south, yeah. Well, they make cheese in Chile, don't they? Yeah, I'm sure. Well, it tastes good in Chile.

SPEAKER_02 2:48

Go ahead. Uh so the SECA, we uh as many people must know, uh, we have regions, including one down there in Houston. Uh we have a program up here, very active. We do uh club racing, uh time trials, HBDs, those track days, which I enjoy, autocross, something called street survival that's really about coaching essentially teenagers how to drive safely under extreme conditions. Um and road rally.

What A Road Rally Really Is

SPEAKER_02 3:20

I lead the road rally program. Um down in Houston, I think there's a Rally Cross, which is more of a speed event. Uh, but Road Rally is in full disclosure, um, because I enjoy taking my car on the track, but for full disclosure, Road Rally is not a speed event. At least it shouldn't be. Um, you're on public roads, and there's all different types of flavors of road rallies. Um, and it's all about uh precision driving, expert navigating, uh, and puzzle solving. There's different types. Um, some of them are you may have for time speed distance where you're driving very precisely, trying to reach certain waypoints at the figured out perfect time. You're trying to arrive no later or earlier than the assigned time. Others are more like gimmick rallies, uh scavenger hunt type things. Um, but the skills that are that are important in in road rally uh are, as I say, very precise driving, careful navigation, uh good observation skills, uh clever wit at times. Uh, and importantly, communication. You need in almost all rallies, you need two people, the driver and a navigator in the car. Uh you're you're you're going, you're using instructions, and it's not safe to do it with the driver doing that.

Don Armstrong 4:44

Yeah.

A First Rally Story And Why It’s Fun

Don Armstrong 4:45

Well, I have to tell you, John, that uh there was a time way back when uh when I uh joined up a Corvette Club, and this Corvette Club did a uh dual kind of event with an SCCA event here in the Houston area, and I had never experienced anything like it. And it was tons of fun. We had a navigator, and uh with obviously the Corvette Club joined in the SCCA to do this thing, and it was one that you were talking about, where it was you had to meet certain requirements at each stopping point, if you want to call it the waypoint, as you said. And um, you mark down your time where you were at that sort of thing. There were no cell phones, there were no computers, none of that stuff. You had to do it all by hand and your wit and understanding of the course. Now, part of the thing that I was on, you didn't get the map till about 30 minutes before you left. So you tried to figure it out overall to begin with, but then you had to go step by step through it as you were driving. It was about a two or three hour event, if I recall. Tons of fun. Uh, we laughed more than I think that we did anything, because you know, we knew that we weren't gonna win. That was not the point, but um, we did it anyway and had a lot of fun. Uh, and at the end, then of course it was kind of a party, a get together, if you will, and uh had lots of fun. So if you're a car person and you like car events, this is something that's not a car show, it's not a cruise in, it's actual interaction with your car and other people that are on the same route as you. You have a goal. Yeah, you got a goal. And I can't tell you how many times you would all of us would go, ah, we missed the turn, got to go back. And everybody did the same thing. It was so funny. But those are the fun things to do if you're really a car person.

Shortest Distance Map Rally Explained

Don Armstrong 6:45

And you've got an event coming up here, um, I guess in a couple of weeks on August the 15th, up there in Dallas. And so tell us about that. What's it called? And uh, is everybody invited?

SPEAKER_02 6:59

Everybody is invited. Um, you don't have to be uh you become a weekend member as part of the signing up for the SECA weekend member. You we have different classes of competitors, so you you uh don't need to have any rally experience. In fact, the last rally that we did in April, I think uh more than half of the entrants were first timers. So uh, you know, it's it's very accommodating that way. We have some classes that are a little bit more competitive. This one is very much like the one you're relating. This is a shortest distance map rally. Most rallies we tell you what the route is. Uh this one is one where we don't you figure out the route. So this is an example here from two years ago where you have to squint a little bit, but uh basically we we we put a map with about 15-20 waypoints. We tell them to tell you where they are, um, and then we give you a certain amount of time, 25-30 minutes at a starting point, and uh, without the use of any electronics or anything, you figure out what you think is the most efficient way to visit them all and come back um and uh and incur the lowest mileage. We calibrate odometers so it's comparable.

Waypoints, GPS Apps, And Verification

Don Armstrong 8:19

So how how how how do you know that the person has reached a waypoint? Is there something do you get a ticket or something that just says yeah, he was here? That's a great question.

SPEAKER_02 8:31

Up until a few years ago, I had to figure out some kind of thing there at each location that you could only answer if you went there. Now that limits what where you can put the waypoints, because if all these a bunch of trees, well, technology comes in. There's a GPS app that's used for for our rallies, for different types of rallies. And in this one, it basically we set those in this GPS app. You have it on your phone, and when you drive by that waypoint, bing, it detects you and confirms that uh that you visited, well, that you've visited all the waypoints, because if not, uh you you won't qualify. So that's a good that's a great question. It uh it used to be a lot of rally stuff, the other rallies too, times you needed a lot of people to put them together.

Don Armstrong 9:21

The billboard with the uh young toddler with the diaper halfway down uh being some sort of a uh suntan commercial that at that particular waypoint, that's the one we used to do.

SPEAKER_02 9:33

Yep, exactly. No, it's this is uh enabled by uh these kind of apps, uh, which uh makes it a lot more convenient to put them together, especially since it's hard to find tons of volunteers to put this together.

Don Armstrong 9:48

Sure, and that's what it took because you had to have somebody along the route to kind of guide all of this stuff. And it was a huge event and very people intensive now. Yeah, it does it doesn't seem that way. Um, it seems like with the app, oh my gosh, make it a breeze to calculate who won and who got second and who got third and that sort of thing. Plus, you guys kind of complicate it by having classes.

Classes, Cars, Mileage, And Penalties

Don Armstrong 10:14

So tell me about the actual class of car. Is it the car or the driver that's in a class?

SPEAKER_02 10:19

It it's the driver, it's the experience. Uh and and by the way, cars for this is a road road rally on public roads. Uh the only requirement is that it be a street legal vehicle.

Don Armstrong 10:30

So we could use Jeff's Buick station wagon.

SPEAKER_02 10:33

Absolutely. Yes, yes. For a fee. In fact, and and we've had sports cars, we've had uh antique cars. Um the autocalibration is important because particularly some of those old cars, their odometer is so far off reality that uh if we don't calibrate, they'll come in with some ridiculously high or low mileage. But uh any any any street legal car will uh will work.

Don Armstrong 11:00

Yeah. Well, this uh I mean it it it this is right up everybody's alley uh to be exposed to a different kind of car event. And uh I assume that uh there's gonna be a a big party, a big hoopla uh after the event is over with on Saturday, the 15th of August.

SPEAKER_02 11:21

We we always end at a at a restaurant or something like that, um where uh where people can exchange uh anecdotes uh sometimes about how they got lost or how they ran into uh some cattle crossing the road or whatnot. Yes, we we definitely uh we we start and end in this case at a at a restaurant, and uh that's where a lot of the fun is.

Don Armstrong 11:44

So, John, let me ask you, uh how many miles approximately is this course if you do it all right and you hit all your waypoints?

SPEAKER_02 11:52

The the one this year, um, of course, I don't know the perfect route, but I would say that it's about 75 miles.

Don Armstrong 12:01

So, in other words, if you hit all of the waypoints, 75 miles, at least two hours, I would offer.

SPEAKER_02 12:09

We'll it'll probably we'll actually check it out. It'll it'll probably be about three hours. And and by the way, we we set a time if if you take more than a certain amount of time, um, at some point uh we start to penalize you, but we give you ample time to to do this. Um just don't want people to and as far as the mileage, uh uh you know that we talked about the skill not not missing any turns. Um we can get uh a range of answers all the way from you know 75 miles to eighty five or more. So some people um wind up uh seeing more of the countryside than others.

Don Armstrong 12:51

Uh-huh. That would be the Dodd Armstrong School of Driving. And uh I I definitely got that. Okay.

Jeff Dziekan 13:03

In fact, my sister, I think, was a secretary at one point.

Don Armstrong 13:05

Yeah. Well, it's it's it's tons of fun. I can tell you that from experience.

Registration, Cost, And Getting Started

Don Armstrong 13:10

Uh, how much does it cost? When do we need to register? And how do we find out more information?

SPEAKER_02 13:14

Um, if you go to Motorsport Reg and look it up, uh there's a registration.

Don Armstrong 13:19

Motorsport Reg.

SPEAKER_02 13:21

Yes. Um uh uh or just you know, Google uh the DFW shortest distance map rally. Um I mean is it on an SCCA site somewhere? It's on uh it's also on the Texas Region SECA website. Okay um so it'll it'll show up in it, but the registration is in Motorsport Reg, which is the platform that used for so many sports car events and the like.

Don Armstrong 13:48

And how much does it cost?

SPEAKER_02 13:50

It's uh $40, I believe is the uh if you're a member, you get a $15 discount.

Don Armstrong 13:57

Gotcha.

SPEAKER_02 13:58

So it's a very approachable uh low entry sport that then encourages people to try out other car events. How often do you have these events? We used to have in this region, we used to have six or seven a year. Yeah. Uh we we slowed things down a little bit for the past two years, and now I'm restarting the program, and this is the second one, and I hope and I will have a third one later in the year.

Don Armstrong 14:26

Well, I have to tell everybody that uh SCCA is a great organization, it's very different than showing cars, cruise-ins, that that sort of thing. It's a different aspect of the car enthusiast crowd. And uh, if you've never experienced it, I would encourage everybody to give it a shot. Uh, because how did you get started?

SPEAKER_02 14:49

Uh well that's interesting. I just came across it, I heard some folks, this was only about 15, 18 years ago, and uh I word of mouth, um, and uh I thought this sounds like something I want to try out.

Don Armstrong 15:02

And what kind of car do you what kind of car do you have today that you do these?

SPEAKER_02 15:07

I have a Mini Cooper, um which I take on the track, um, and I use that for rallying. Um, but uh depending on who I was driving with on the road, that would that could vary. So uh for a few years, uh my wife was my co-driver, and so we used her her car. Uh there are people who do it in minivans and people who do it in uh sports cars.

Don Armstrong 15:32

Yeah, yeah. And that's that's the fun thing about it. And uh I know that you also have speed events, you have got all sorts of things for people to get involved in. And just like a regular car club, you know, you got your racers over here, you got your show people over here, you got your road rally people, the trip people. So it makes up a whole gang of folks that are into the cars. And uh I would encourage anybody to check it out. John, it's great to talk to you. Thank you so much for joining us today. We really appreciate it. Best of luck on your uh August 15th shortest distance rally. We appreciate it.

Jeff Dziekan 16:06

Send us the new map. We promise we won't tell. Yeah.

Don Armstrong 16:08

That's it. John, thanks again. We appreciate you. Coming up from Houston and join. You got it. We'll do it. All right, just ahead, Jeff's Car Culture, Car Jacks for your garage. And Mars has driving destinations when the in-wheel time car talk show continues right after this break. The Texas Max dining experience is defined by Lupi Tortilla, your destination for Texas's best beef beatas and frozen margaritas. Since 1983, Lupi Tortilla has served authentic and time-tested recipes made with the freshest ingredients. Atmosphere is part of the award-winning experience of Lupi Tortillas, all developed in a little house near Highway's 69 in Houston. Visit any of the Lupi Tortillas and you'll see the same attention to detail in each and every location. Start your loopy experience with queso flamingato and guacamole, along with a classic roza margarita. Time on the famous loopy beef and chicken tomitos or pepper trip profile, or a finger vegetarian entree, and finish with this grumpy vlog for dessert. Find loopy tortilla in Houston, College Station, Beaumont, Boston, San Antonio, and Dallas, Fort Worth. There's a Texas location near you. The recipes are authentic and time-tested. The ingredients are always fresh. Loopy tortilla. Eats pretty good. Apple or Android In Wheel Time podcasts can be found everywhere, on the stream and through downloads. Whether you're on the road or at home and searching for a fun car talk show, give In Wheel Time a try. Honest new car reviews, fun informative interviews with real car people, weekly automotive news, features like Jeff's car culture, Mike's driving destinations, all on In Wheel Time. Check us out on SiriusXM Podcasts, iHeartRadio, or while you're shopping on Amazon through Amazon Music. InWheeltime.com has a list, so check us out. Grab one that piques your interest. All right.

Jeff’s Car Culture On Garage Jacks

Don Armstrong 18:08

Time now for Jeff's Car Culture this week, car jacks. And all I can think of is those old school bumpers. Oh my God. Yes, the bumper jacks. Bumper jacks.

Jeff Dziekan 18:18

Well, I'll tell you, I don't endorse any of these. These are just things that uh people might want to look into for their particular need for where what they're using on their vehicle. So not every tool needed software or the availability of to connect to your Bluetooth. Sometimes all you need is a dependent mechanical tool, like a floor jack. Uh whether you're rotating tires or changing brakes, quality jack is the foundation of most of your do-it-yourself jobs. So here we go, Michael. Uh, if you're looking for a simple everyday garage jack, this black hawk may be one for you. After a simple setup, you will be amazed at this 87-pound lift per pump. You know that, Don, with a mere one and a half pumps of the arm raising the jack to a full height.

Don Armstrong 18:59

That was a NASCAR stuff.

Jeff Dziekan 19:00

Yeah. Uh during the test, this car was raised 21 and a half inches, providing ample space to slide two jacks under the pinch welds, which is very important because you always want to do that. Additionally, that the jack's longest chassis design, making it easy to reach cross-member lifting points. So the next one, Mike, uh, you got a type of uh jack who or type you're if you're the type who values efficiency and convenience. The Power Belt Unijack combines a classic bottle jack and jack stand into one space-saving tool. Very cool. In terms of safety features, the power belt was one jack tested that offered the most tactical safety feature utilizing familiar lock drop mechanism that you're used to seeing on jack stands and other hydraulic lifts. So this is more of a mini professional total car lift. Uh, the one downfall was the short lever, which resulted in a low pump to lift ratio. So it's a little bit more compact. The next one, Mike, is a uh slick, it's it's I'm sorry, sick and tired of watching the cost of living rise by inflation. Why not watch your vehicle rise by inflation with a Viva pneumatic jack instead? Hey, how about that? Uh with the entire different modus operandi, this jack requires a compressor to operate. Attach the compressor, slowly open the valve, and watch in awe as the jack lifts at an impressive rate. Experts say lifting the and lowering the jack at variable speeds, it takes a little bit of practice, but it's possible to learn it in just a little bit. Uh you have to be careful of the height and the lowering availability, uh, closing the valves off and such. So the maximum height measured is 15.8 inches, plenty of room to lift the front vehicle for jack stands and a quick tire stop. That's a pretty neat little thing there. I like that. Unless your vehicle is a military grade tank, you're be hard pressed to find a car in your fleet that the big red can't lift. The big red has an impressive weight capacity of 8,000 pounds, and that shows it's heavy-duty steel frame and reinforced lifting arm. Another thing about the big red is that the low profile jack can be used in low profile vehicles with low, low height of 3.8 inches and its low setting. The max lift of this is 20 and a half inches. The lifting range is versatile enough for a variety of cars, strong enough to handle the heaviest of the lot. So that's a pretty good little jack there. Last one, Mike. If you're looking for low, uh light and long-lasting trusty jack, the Pittsburgh Low Profile Aluminum Racing Jack may be just what you're looking for. The low profile design is specifically tailored for vehicles with minimal ground clearance, making it a great choice for racing enthusiasts or low profile vehicles. Experts say what makes it different is the traditional floor jack in its aluminum material design. Weighing in at 24 pounds less than an X size up makes all the difference in maneuverability and portability. So it's important to move those things around if you put it in your trunk or in the back of a pickup. You got to have that lightweight and also be able to lift your vehicle up. So uh again, check them out if you've got a specific. Specific need for it, be it racing or just everyday do-it-yourself stuff, check them out.

Don Armstrong 22:04

And my Corvette. Even the lowest of the low jacks, I still have to get under there and kind of give it an elbow. Just you know, like a quarter of an inch to get the jack underneath there. And there are four jacking points on the car, two on each side. And you're supposed to have what is called a puck. And it's a thing that goes into the frame and you twist it to hold it there. So that makes it even lower because the puck is probably about uh half to three-quarters of an inch thick. What a pain. All right. Well, there you go. Thank you, sir. All right, Mr.

Driving Destinations Flood Control Parks

Don Armstrong 22:40

Mars. Time now for driving destinations. I know you've got something fun and exciting for us.

Mike Marrs 22:46

It's different. Let me put it that way. So, you know, it it is hurricane season down here along the coast. We just recently had a little tropical storm, and everybody got all hot and bothered over it, thinking that we were going to get washed away again. But there's a lot of things that a bee have done in this area, particularly in Houston. You know, Houston wasn't simply built, it was engineered. And so a lot of things happened behind the scenes with reservoirs, bios, and channels to kind of help check some of that flooding that goes on in one of the country's biggest cities. Now, the first thing that we're going to talk about is the Attics Reservoir. Now, this was built by the U.S. Car Corps of Engineers after the floods at 1930. This is when this started. It's not really a lake in the traditional sense. Most of the time, it just looks like a big plain, like a big prairie or something out there, like a big park, a green space inside of Houston, but it's designed so that it will store billions, literally billions of gallons of water to keep it from rushing downstream into Buffalo Bio and right down into downtown Houston. Now, the earthen dam there actually stretches for miles. A lot of people drive by it, they don't even realize what they're really looking at, but it's really part of the flood control structures. It was all engineered for this purpose, but they also used it to create some parks. There's some trailheads that you can actually go to, park, go do some walking out through the open beast basin whenever it's not full of water. The second one we want to look at is the Barker Reservoir. Now, this is just south of Attics, and it's kind of the twin that works together with it. And the two of them, they create the largest flood control project in Texas. They work as a team, they hold the stormwater, and they release it slowly as the weather clears. Now, during Hurricane Harvey, when my house in particular, I know it flooded, uh, both reservoirs reached record levels, and that just gives you an idea how much water they will hold. But again, they've created parks, they've engineered this so that they got use when it's not flooding to create parks. You can go fishing, you can go hiking. There's a lot of areas and picnicking that you can do with these areas. Then uh the third one that we want to look at is the Buffalo Bio itself. Now, Houston knows that as a big scenic park. You can go kayaking, you can go jogging down the trails, but the real purpose of that is part of flood control. It's one of the main drainage arteries, and it brings the stormwater from West Houston that traditionally would flow right through downtown and it funnels it out into Galliston Bay. And again, there's a lot of parks and green spaces that go along the way. And so it's not just recreation, but it does, because of the spacing, the way they're designed, it looks like a big slope that goes back almost like you would consider a beach, but it's a green space. That's so that it can hold even more water. The fourth one we want to talk about is Terry Hershey Park. And you'll notice all these are considered parks because that's the way they were engineered so that the citizens of Houston get a little more value out of them. Now, this is over in West Houston, and you can see the flood control engineering in action without looking at it like it is. It's got the wide green corridors, natural vegetation, the sloping banks that all help it hold more water and funnel it in to keep it from flooding out houses and things around uh Houston area. The last one is the most unique one is the San Jacinto Monument. Now, this is going to seem kind of strange as uh uh a flood control tour, but it is again part of the flood control that you can see the bigger picture if you go up into the observation deck at the top of it. Now you can see out over the ship, Houston Ship Channel, Galveston Bay, the waterways, as well as like the area right there around it that holds water, the bios, the reservoirs, all that's part of a system that has been over the years kind of engineered with the natural flow of things to try and lead everything out into the Gulf of America. And so this is really one of the best places you can go to see the parks, see how everything kind of fits together. It's a great view from up there if you've never been up there.

Don Armstrong 26:46

And I can tell you from experience if you go to the San Gacino Monument down there to the San Jacino area, take lots of mosquito spray because I'll tell you what, it can get brutal, especially at certain times of the year. Thank you, Mr. Mars. In wheel time car talk show continues right after this quick break. Stay with us. Searching for real experts in window tent or windshield protection, Gulf Coast Auto Shield. Dash cams, radar detectors, Gulf Coast Auto Shield. Got a new car? Get it protected as soon as you take delivery. If you don't know which of the multitude of protection products to go with, John Gray will give you an honest opinion and won't tell you something you don't need. John will help you understand the many options and pricing right on the spot. He's your guy to have your ride looking its best and protected too. See the state-of-the-art shop yourself, free tours anytime. Gulf Coast Auto Shield is easy to get to, located just south of the Southwest Freeway on the Sam Houston Parkway. Gulf Coast Auto Shield, full service luxury car care today and online at gcautoshield.com. Gift giving should be meaningful, and we have an idea. A hand-painted custom illustration of your car from one of the nation's leading artists. Now you can get one or a car show poster customized for you, a friend, or a loved one. Bill Sites will be happy to guide you through the process. No matter what the day, birthday, anniversary, or any day, an autographics custom illustration adds an extra touch of class to any home. Call Bill today, 832-922-0963. That's 832-922-0963.

Sponsors And Where To Listen

Don Armstrong 28:40

That's it for this podcast episode of the In Wheel Time Car Show. I'm Don Armstrong, inviting you to join us for our live show every Saturday morning on Facebook, YouTube, Twitch, and our InWheelTime.com website. Podcasts are available on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Stitcher, iHeart Podcast, Podcast Addict, TuneIn, Pandora, and Amazon Music. Keep listening, and we'll see you soon.